RESEARCH & ACADEMIC

Technology, Materials & Processes

3D Technologies

Similar to 3D LifePrint’s use of 3D technologies for medical purposes, there are a number of 3D printers and technologies that 3D LifePrints uses for research and educational purposes. These cover the major technologies used, which includes Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), Sterolithography (SLA), Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM or FFF) and Multi-jet modelling. 3D LifePrint’s Research and Development team also is working to develop new 3D technologies to meet the growing requirements from our clients.

3D Materials

A wide range of 3D printing materials are suitable for research and academia. With the varied nature of this category, widely available materials such as PLA or ABS may used to prototype models. Specific materials may then be identified to suit specific material properties such as density, shore hardness, melting temperature or transparency.

Processes

Our in-house team offers CAD and prototype modelling to customer specific requirements. We have access to a wide range of 3D modelling software suites for both anatomical and product design purposes such as:

Speak to our experts

Invaluable. Really good for guiding my operation. I would have struggled to work out what to do rather than knowing beforehand. Excellent for explaining to the patients. Staff in theatre liked them as they could understand what I was doing and what I needed. It should be the standard of care for Septal patients.

The models can be designed to a specific criteria. No two children, or conditions are the same, so a 3D model of a patient's problem can only benefit the training, and ultimately the care they receive.

Assistant Practitioner Kevin Cairns

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

The Virtual Engineering Centre is developing an exciting collaboration with 3D LifePrints, bringing together the specialist expertise of both organisations in 3D printing and immersive virtual reality to support the medical sector.Co-developing new processes to support surgeons at Alder Hey Children’s Trust with 3D LifePrints has accelerated the development of new techniques and has highlighted the benefits to medical teams, patients and their families, that can be achieved by innovatively combining 3D printing, scanning and immersive virtual reality technologies.

Lyn Dwyer, Director

Virtual Engineering Centre, Liverpool, UK

Working with 3D LifePrints we have produced high resolution 3D prints of the heart of unprecedented quality and detail, generated from high resolution micro-CT data sets, such prints have brought our virtual data to life, and serve to improved our understanding of the 3D micro-anatomy of the heart.

3D printing offers some really unique and exciting opportunities to change the way that we teach, plan and undertake surgical interventions in orthopedics. 3D LifePrints are leading the way. The models can be designed to a specific criteria. No two children, or conditions are the same, so a 3D model of a patients problem can only benefits the training, and ultimately the care they receive.